East LA Remodel + Addition

Quick facts: Full remodel + 1,470 SF two-story addition | 2,146 SF, 5 bed, 3.5 bath | East Los Angeles

This one is personal. The house sits a few blocks from where Daniel grew up, in the part of LA where our practice started, so we wanted to design something the neighborhood would be proud of. The clients came to us wanting to turn the second house on their parents’ lot, a 676 SF two-bedroom, into a real home of its own.

The first floor is an open kitchen and living room with an attached one-car garage. Upstairs are the main bedroom, a second bedroom, and a deck with views, sized for actually hanging out on, not just stepping onto. The exterior is smooth white stucco with wood siding across the second floor. The siding was the clients’ own addition during construction, and it made the house; some of the best design moves come from clients who feel ownership of the project.

The site move that made it all work: the existing house sat right on the property line, where new construction can’t go. By keeping 12 inches of the original wall and footing along that line and rebuilding everything else as new, we kept the full footprint the old house had earned. That one foot of wall is why a tight lot holds a 2,146 SF two-story home.